OTRC: Morrissey under fire for comparing the Norway Massacre to fast food restaurants

Morrissey is under fire for comparing the brutal Norway massacre to acts committed by fast food restaurants.

"We all live in a murderous world, as the events in Norway have shown, with 97 [sic] dead," the former lead singer of The Smiths said during a concert in Warsaw, Poland on July 24, Entertainment Weekly reports. "Though that is nothing compared to what happens in McDonald's and Kentucky Fried (expletive) every day."

The July 22 Norway massacre by Anders Breivik and bombing at a Youth Labor Party camp on Utøya Island left a combined 76 people dead and 96 injured. Morrissey's comment was met with outrage on Twitter, where many promised to boycott his music. He has also been compared to conservative radio show host Glenn Beck, who was criticized earlier in the week for comparing the victims to Hitler Youth camps.

Morrissey has been a vegetarian since he was 11 years old and is a supporter of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). He has said that he understands the militant tactics of some animal rights activists and criticized those he believes are involved in the promotion of eating meat, including chef Jamie Oliver.

Morrisey apologized in a statement to a fan site on July 29 writing, "The recent killings in Norway were horrific. As usual in such cases, the media give the killer exactly what he wants: worldwide fame. We aren't told the names of the people who were killed - almost as if they are not considered to be important enough, yet the media frenzy to turn the killer into a Jack The Ripper star is... repulsive. He should be un-named, not photographed, and quietly led away."

"The comment I made onstage at Warsaw could be further explained this way: Millions of beings are routinely murdered every single day in order to fund profits for McDonalds and KFCruelty, but because these murders are protected by laws, we are asked to feel indifferent about the killings, and to not even dare question them," Morrissey continued.

"If you quite rightly feel horrified at the Norway killings, then it surely naturally follows that you feel horror at the murder of ANY innocent being," Morrissey wrote. "You cannot ignore animal suffering simply because animals 'are not us.'"

In May, Morrissey also raised eyebrows after speaking ill of the English Royal family.

He told BBC radio host Dermot O'Leary, "I don't believe they serve any purpose whatsoever. I'm not an anarchist but I believe that people don't want the Royal Family. The so-called royal family. They're not royal to me. But they're royal to the media for some reason."

The singer apologized in a statement to a fan site, claiming he was in a "foul mood" during the interview.

The singer recently released "The Very Best Of Morrissey," a collection of greatest hit and videos on CD and DVD.

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